The University of Education, HCMC
English Language Teaching Methodology 2
Department of English
I. INTRODUCTION
Writing: the
Why write in class?
For
important of 4 skills
&
For long-term needs The nature of writing in reality
Differences of writing in the classroom and in reality: In EFL classroom, writing = as a means to consolidate language recently studied, as “writing as
”, and thus = pseudo writing .
In reality, most writing is
, i.e., to convey messages or for self-
creation, e.g. writing poems. Conclusion:
In EFL classrooms, esp. in traditional pedagogy, writing often goes this way: the teacher gives a topic or a selection of topics, a set of requirements, and a time limit. of the final product is stressed and the process p rocess is ignored.
In
, we may have some ideas long before we put them on paper. We
often plan, draft, and rewrite.
If writing tasks lack authenticity, they do not motivate ss.
If writing tasks focus on the product rather than on the process, they do not help ss to develop real writing skills.
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Therefore we should
, and we should to writing.
II. WRITING ACTIVITIES A. Controlled writing
a) Mechanical (copying letters, letter combinations, words, simple sent.) = boring b) Meaningful = interesting Both are usu. kinds of writing for learning *
Gap-filling
*
Re-ordering words
*
Substitutions
*
Correcting the facts
*
Look at pictures & write whole sent. in words
*
Sentence building
Write complete sentences using these prompts: 1- John/write/letter/moment. 2- you/waiting /somebody? 3- present/I/prepare/new project. *
Sentence completion
Complete these sentences using the present continuous tense. 1- At the moment, my mother ------2- The teacher ---------------. ---------------. 3- Mr. and Mrs. Brown -------------. *
Write a summary based on prompts
Write the summary of the text using these cues.
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Yesterday – Yesterday – Ali Ali - home from school – school – way way - saw – saw – old old man – man – lying – lying – side – side – street – street – ill ill - took – took – hospital - … *
Sentence transformation
Rewrite the following sent. keeping the meaning unchanged. 1- This café belongs to Mr. Smith.
Mr. Smith -----------------------------------------. ----.
2- They built this house a long time ago.
This house --------------------------------------------. ---.
3- “Don’t go out late.”, her Mum said.
Her mum -------------------. -------------------.
Stages of a controlled writing task Pre-task
- introduce task & give clear instructions - present language input (vocab., structures) for task - (model given) While-task
Ss write individually or in groups in class Post-task
Give feedback (orally/writing key on BB, pointin g out common mistakes) Problems of controlled writing tasks Deficiencies of writing tasks in existing English textbooks:
They are mainly
They are designed
. .
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There is
before the writing stage.
There is
.
There is
.
rather than being invited to invent their own. There is
, particularly for expressing unusual
or original ideas. In short, ss can be motivated by b y authentic writing tasks that have some communicative elements. However some writing activities can be between “writing for learning” and “writing for communication”. B. GUIDED WRITING
Ss need to progress beyond very controlled writing exercise to freer paragraph writing. Help them by: 1) Giving short text as a model
2) Doing oral preparation for writing
Oral preparation Advantages
+ flexible: can be done different di fferent ways according to the interests & ability of class + ideas come from Ss themselves: activity more interesting & Ss inv olved. + does not require specially-prepared texts or other materials. 4
How:
Brainstorming for lg. & ideas : Ss make suggestions, T. provides words/structures + builds up an outline Eliciting using list of Qs. Stages of a guided writing lesson: Pre-writing/ task
- warm-up - topic given - language & idea input (oral prep.) - (text as a model (a R/L text) While-writing/ task
Ss write in class (solo/ groups) Ss write at home Post-writing/ task
T marks Ss’ papers & give comments T gives feedback (pointing out good points & common mistakes) A common approach to guided writing
To motivate ss, it is necessary to engage them in some act of communication.
Either writing for a specific recipient (e.g. a letter to a friend, writing through e-mail ), or:
Engaging in an act of creative writing where their work is intended to be read by other people.
Guided writing: The communicative + the process approach
Step 1: raising a question: what problems is our city confronted with ?
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Step 2: a brief discussion on the problems;
Step 3: group discussion on solutions;
Step 4: individual composing: My composing: My Solutions to the problem of …; of …;
Step 5: reading one’s own composition, making suggestions on how to make improvement, focusing on ideas rather than on language;
Step 6: rewriting, selecting and organising ideas, keeping an eye on language;
Step 7: grouping students based on the topics, letting students read their own composition;
Step 8: making a list of optimal solutions, producing a product of the whole group;
Step 9: creating a class news letter letter like “problems and solutions in our city”.
III. CORRECTING WRITTEN WORK
(Textbook)
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